Locket



' April 1941- L. YALCOURT 2,239,799

LOCKET Filed Dec. 23, 1938 ".1 ypyz 5 INVENTOR :7? BY {441m ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1941 LOCKET Lawrence Valcourt, Pawtucket, It. I., assignor to I Carl-Art, Inc., Providence, It. 1., a corporation of Rhode Island Application December 23, 1938, Serial No. 247,427

Claims.

My present invention relates to the jewelry art, and more particularly refers to a novel construction for lockets, pendants, and the like.

lit is the principal object of my invention to provide an improved jewelry ornament having a releasable closure.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved manually operative releasable locking means for a closure to a jewelry ornament.

A further object of my invention is to provide a manually operative locking means which is concealed from observation.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a locking means for a jewelry ornament such as a locket, brooch, pendant, or the like, so arranged that the weight of the ornament resists accidental or unintentional opening of the closure therefor.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined inthe claims appended thereto.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a locket embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, the closure par-t for the locket being in open position;

Fig. 3 is an end view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail, partly in section, illustrating the latch mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the movable latch element;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail showing one of the catch openings of the closure part;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of th locket body prior to assembly of the parts therein; and

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the locket body prior to assembly of the parts therein.

It has been found desirable to provide a releasable lock construction for a locket, pendant, brooch, or the like, which has cooperating catch and latch elements secured to the ornament body and to a closure part connected therewith, the parts being so arranged that the entire lock mechanism is hidden or concealed from View, one of the lock parts being movable and being formed as part of the mechanism for suspendin the jewelry ornament from a necklace or the like, the lock parts being so arranged that the weight of the ornament tends to keep the lock parts in locking relation.

Referring to the drawing, the locket 10 in cludes a base II and two closures l2,- theparts being preferably made of stamped metal ware and of hollow formation. The body portion II and the closures l2 may have recesses l3 for receiving an ornament, such as for example, a picture or the like. Each closure I2 is hinged to the body II by means of hinges H, a spring element l'5 being associated with each hinge, and preferably being a coil spring, with its ends 16 respectively in contact with the edge of the closure and the body portion, so as to continually urge the closures to open position. Referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, the base I l is provided with a cut-out I! at the upper portion thereof, on the face thereof, and a small slot I8 is provided in the upper portion thereof, to house a latch member I9. The latch member [9 has a thin portion 20 slidable in the slot l8, an end 2| preferably pierced to receive a chain or the like, and a depending plate 22 in which an arcuate spring 23 is mounted, see Fig. 5, the sides of the plate being bent inwardly to provide spaced latch hooks 24. Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 4, the assembly of the latch within the body portion II is accomplished by moving the end 2| and the stem 20 upwardly through the slot 18, so as to position the plate and its latches 24 within the cut-out I1, a lock ring 25 being then inserted in the recess l3 of the base to lock the latch mechanism in place, while permitting upward movement of the latch mechanism so that the latches 24 engage the underside of the body portion, the latch mechanism being manually movable in a downward direction by manual pressure on the end 2|, against the resistance of the arcuate spring 23.

Referring now to Fig. 6, the two closures I2 which are preferably of hollow construction each have an inner surface 26 which is provided with a catch recess 21 adjacent the upper end thereof, and adapted to be releasably engaged by a latch 2 When the parts are assembled together as shown in Fig. 2, inward movement of the two closures l2 engages or contacts the two latches 24 with the two catch closures 21, the closing pressure forcing the two latches 24 downwardly, because of the arcuate curvature of the ends thereof, so as to cause the latches to snap into the closures 21 and to hook therebehind. The

two closures are thus releasably retained in closed relation to the body portion II; to open the closures, the end 2| of the latch mechanism is manually pressed downwardly, against the tension of the spring 23 thus moving the latches 2Q into unhooked position with respect to the catch openings 21, whereupon the springs l5 move the closure I2 to open position.

It is thus evident that the improved lock con- 'struction has its parts concealed from view, as clearly shown in Fig. l, and that the weight of the ornament, which causes a downward pull on the end 2|, effectively resists accidental or inadvertent downward movement of the latch mechanism and resultant opening of the two closures.

While I have described the invention as speciflcally applied to a locket, the latch and catch mechanism may be readily adapted to any jewelry ornament, as for example, pendants, brooches, and the like, and may be adapted to other jewelry articles having lock mechanisms, as for example, bracelets which have hinged parts and ends releasably lockable together, the necessary changes in the structure for adapting the novel lock mechanism to other jewelry constructions such as specified being within the skill of the jewelry mechanic.

I claim:

1. In an article of jewelry, at body having a recess, a latch mechanism in said recess having a stem projecting outwardly therefrom and a latch element, an arcuate leaf spring in said body having the central portion thereof fixed to said latch mechanism urging said latch mechanism outwardly, and a closure hinged to said body and having a catch recess adapted. to receive said latch element and to lock therewith on outward movement of said latch mechanism.

2. In an article of jewelry, 2. body having a recess,.a latch mechanism in said recess having a stem projecting vertically therefrom, a latch element in said recess integral with said stem, spring means in said body joined to said stem and urging said latch mechanism vertically, a closure hinged to said body and having a catch recess adapted to receive sald latch element and to lock therewith on vertical movement of said latch mechanism, whereby said latch mechanism is retained in looking engagement by the weight of said article when said article is suspended by said stem and spring means on said hinge urging said closure to open position.

3. In a locket, a body having an inturned rim, a recess in said rim at its upper end, a latch mechanism in said recess having a stem projecting outwardly therefrom and a latch hook, said body having an ornament receiving recess, a removable closure for said rim, a spring seated in said rim recess and having its ends abutting said removable closure and urging said latch mechanism outwardly, and a closure hinged to said body and having a catch recess adapted to receive said latch hook and to lock therewith on outward movement of said latch mechanism.

4. In an article of jewelry, a body element, a closure element therefor, cooperating latch and catch. lock parts associated with said elements, one of said parts being inwardly housed in said body element, said inwardly housed part having an integral stem extending vertically from said body element, said lock parts being vertically. operated and adapted to be retained in locking engagement by the weight of said body element when said article is suspended by said stem, and spring means in said body element fixed to said stem yieldingly urging said lock parts into locking engagement.

5. In an article of jewelry, a body element, a closure element (therefor, cooperating latch and catch lock parts associated with said elements, one of said parts being inwardly housed in said body element, said inwardly housed part having an integral stem extending from said body element, said lock parts being verti-callyoperated and adapted to be retained in locking engagement by the weight of said body element when said article is suspended by said stem, and spring means in said body element fixed to said stem yieldingly urging said lock parts into engagement, said spring means abutting one wall of said part housing in said body element.

LAWRENCE VALCOURT. 

